


Iterations

by FrodaB



Category: Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-22
Updated: 2010-05-22
Packaged: 2017-11-01 23:23:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/362421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrodaB/pseuds/FrodaB
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>She was the only one - including Tony - who was always working with his best interests at heart.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Iterations

**Author's Note:**

> A missing scene from _Iron Man 2_. Spoilers, obviously. Thanks as always to [](http://thewlisian-afer.livejournal.com/profile)[**thewlisian_afer**](http://thewlisian-afer.livejournal.com/) for assistance throughout the process.

There were times when Pepper found herself grateful for the constant presence of alcohol in Tony's various modes of transportation. Right now, she was on the jet, and she barely gave a second thought to opening up the liquor cabinet and going for the best scotch on hand.

It had been that kind of week, and it wasn't going to get better anytime soon. Tomorrow, there were all-day meetings at the New York office to look forward to, then Hammer's presentation at the Expo in the evening.

In some ways, being CEO was a relief. After all, she no longer had to badger Tony about every minor detail; she was free to make the decisions on her own, the right decisions for the company, and she had a pretty good idea of what those were, usually.

On the other hand, she was now being held personally responsible for everything - _everything_ \- that went wrong. And a lot had been going wrong, the past five days.

Rhodey had called two days ago, the morning after the disastrous birthday party.

"Hi, Pepper. I just thought you should know -"

"I already know what happened. I have remote access to Jarvis's security protocols. You don't have to tell me." She'd sounded about as tired as she felt. So did Rhodey.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry for doing your job, Colonel Rhodes. And I won't be sorry for doing mine. Deal?"

There was a pause, and Pepper hoped she wasn't about to actually lose a friend. "Yeah, it's a deal," he said, and she breathed a silent sigh of relief.

"Good. Look, I have to go, I have a meeting with the legal team in twenty minutes..."

Legal was not very helpful, and the more Tony kept sabotaging himself, the more Pepper wondered why she kept sticking up for him. She was the only one - including Tony - who was always working with his best interests at heart.

When he showed up at her office, with those damn strawberries and that oh-so-familiar look of contrition, Pepper just snapped. It wasn't that she didn't think he meant what he said - she knew he did. He always did, but that was part of the problem. He'd spent his whole life making messes and apologizing for it while letting others deal with the cleanup.

Pepper was angry, and she was going to be angry for a while, but that wasn't going to stop her from doing everything she could to get the Mark II back for him. He'd been her job for over a decade; this was just a new iteration of that.

"Miss Potts? Here's the paperwork you were asking for."

The voice broke Pepper out of her reverie, and she looked up at another one of her numerous problems.

Rhodey, he was someone she could understand. His loyalties were divided, but that was no secret. Natalie Rushman, on the other hand, was inscrutable. A little too perfect, a little too innocent.

"Would you like a drink?" Pepper asked, and the younger woman gave her a small smile, one that didn't reach her eyes.

"I don't think that would be appropriate while I'm on the clock."

"Good point. But I would like to talk to you about something." Pepper indicated the chair across from her, and Natalie sat, carefully, her back ramrod-straight, her face impassive and her eyes wary.

"I wanted to apologize." Pepper couldn't help a slight feeling of satisfaction at the momentary surprise that crossed Natalie's face, but she quelled it. "For my behavior the other night. It was uncalled-for, and I'm sorry."

The younger woman nodded. "It's okay. You've obviously been under a lot of stress lately.” She paused, as though unsure she should say anything else, but continued anyway. “You know, you don't have any reason to be jeal -"

"I'm _not_ jealous," Pepper snapped, then sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm not jealous," she repeated, more calm. "I've known Tony for over ten years; I've never been jealous and I'm not about to start." It wasn't until that moment that she realized it was true, though she'd never tell anyone that. She'd been worried the past few days that what she was feeling _was_ jealousy, on some level - Pepper was not a jealous person by nature, but Natalie had thrown her for a loop. But no, it wasn't the idea that Natalie might sleep with Tony (god knows he'd slept with plenty of people and it had never bothered her), or even that she might be better at the job than Pepper had been (she was good, but she didn't know Tony like Pepper did, didn‘t occupy the same space in his life, and never would).

Pepper eyed the other woman critically, then asked the question that had been on her mind since Monaco. "Who are you working for?"

Natalie raised her eyebrows. "You've seen Mr. Stark's payroll -"

"I'm not talking about that, and I'm not playing this game with you. Are you with Hammer, or Senator Stern? Or are you a S.H.I.E.L.D. plant?"

Natalie's poker face was good, but Pepper saw the way she stopped herself from flinching, and nodded. "Well, I can live with that, it's certainly better than some of the other options. If you're not trying to sabotage the company, or kill him, then we should be okay."

"We're gathering information. We'd like -" Natalie began, but Pepper cut her off.

"I know. You people have been dogging his heels since he got back from Afghanistan. I just wanted to know what your agenda was, because you've got _some_ kind of agenda, that much was obvious from the start. That doesn't bother me. Everyone has an agenda. Mine is keeping him on his feet, and sane."

"Then, for the moment, we have a similar agenda," Natalie murmured. She got up, and Pepper glanced out the window, watching wisps of cloud outside.

“He’s important to me.” The sound of her voice surprised even her - Pepper hadn’t meant to speak aloud. Natalie paused on her way out of the cabin, and Pepper continued. “You’re not seeing him at his best. He’s - well, everyone has flaws. My point is, you do your job, whatever that is. I won’t stop you. But remember he’s got people who love him.”

Natalie didn’t say anything else, just left, and Pepper felt like they’d reached some level of understanding.


End file.
